Ukrainians behind car bombing that killed daughter of key Putin ally, US believes

Parts of the Ukrainian government authorised a car bomb which killed the daughter of a key ally of Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the US believes.

Kyiv has always denied responsibility for the attack of Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, in August.

But US intelligence agencies have now concluded that the explosion was sanctioned by parts of the Ukrainian government in a closely held assessment shared within the US government last week, according to the New York Times.

US officials insisted Washington had no advance knowledge of the attack, nor did it provide intelligence or other assistance that led to it, according to the paper.

In fact, American officials admonished their Ukrainian counterparts in the wake of the assassination.

It is unclear if Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky had signed off on the attack or who in the Ukrainian government America rebuked over the incident.

Ukraine: ‘Someone like Dugina is not a target for us’

A spokesman repeated the Ukrainian government's denial to The New York Times on Tuesday.

Asked about the US intelligence assessment, Mykhailo Podolyak said: “Someone like Dugina is not a tactical or a strategic target for Ukraine."

US officials have speculated that the real target of the assassination was Dugina's father, Aleksandr Dugin, a leading cheerleader of Russia's war in Ukraine known to wield significant influence with Mr Putin.

Mr Dugin was supposed to drive into Moscow with his daughter, but decided at the last minute to travel back in another car.

Ukraine’s security services have proved adept at conducting sabotage operations within Russian territory from the start of the seven-month conflict.

But the assassination of Dugina still represents one of the boldest operations of the war to date, and appears to demonstrate Ukraine's ability to reach prominent Russians.

US fears attack could escalate Russian invasion

The attack is one element of a covert campaign by Ukraine that US officials fear could escalate Russia's invasion.

American officials have reportedly been frustrated with Kyiv's lack of transparency over both its battlefield and covert plans, in particular those actioned on Russian territory.

The Pentagon and US intelligence agencies have engaged in a significant level of intelligence sharing with Ukraine, assisting its forces in striking Russian command posts, supply lines and other key targets.

But US officials told the New York Times Ukrainians have not always shared their plans in return.

Part of the problem is said to arise out of US officials lacking a complete picture of the competing power centres within the Ukrainian government, namely the military, the security services and President Zelensky’s office.

These competing structures could suggest that some parts of the Ukrainian government were not forewarned of the car bomb attack.

Russia has not retaliated in a specific way to Dugina's assassination, but Washington is understood to be concerned that such attacks, while having limited impact on the battlefield, could provoke Moscow to respond in kind.